Life is a long, winding path. You start off at the beginning, and as you go on you think you know everything about the world and, even more so, about yourself. However, as you have new experiences and gain more education, you’ll find that your beliefs, values, and goals are often not the same as they were at the start.
Many sociologists describe this as primary socialization, which refers to the values and beliefs that people learned from their parents and the environment in their youth; and secondary socialization, which are the values learned when people leave home.
All of this is a fancy way of saying that your views, particularly as you start adulthood, will change over the course of the next several years. This isn’t a bad thing, though – it means you are coming into your own.
Ro Oranim is a prime example of this concept. Born and raised in a haredi community in the US, she eventually came to Israel and felt a deep love for this land.
With a background in writing and social media, Oranim worked as an editor and in hasbara (public diplomacy), and became an early member of The Jerusalem Post’s breaking news desk. From there, she has seen her experiences guide her forward to new heights and new directions.
Now, several years later, she works for an artificial intelligence-powered start-up. Many of her views have changed or shifted since she arrived in Israel, but it was all the result of her own journey, gaining knowledge and skills from the many experiences and highs and lows she’s had along the way. And in her words, it was all worth it.
In Jerusalem sat down with Oranim to hear her story and the wisdom she has gained along the way.
What brought you to Israel?
I grew up in an ultra-Orthodox community in New York, where I never really felt like I belonged. So I guess you can say, like many others, I came to Israel to find my place. I came on a gap year program, really unsure of what I would find.
As it turns out, what I discovered is there are many different kinds of Jews, not just the one kind I had known growing up, and that it was possible to spread your wings, learn new ideas, and find yourself all while maintaining a proud Jewish identity.
That feeling of belonging, of home, combined with the education I received about the history of the Land of Israel, made a real Zionist out of me. In October of 2012 I completed my aliyah, and I’ve been here ever since.
How did you get started on your current career path?
It’s an interesting thing. I’ve always been a writer. It’s something that has always come to me naturally and brought me great comfort throughout the various stages of my life.
Professionally, my first content position was during my time at Bar-Ilan University, where I worked as an editor and social media manager. Simultaneously, I was heavily involved in the university’s hasbara war rooms during Operation Pillar of Defense and Operation Protective Edge, where I put my skills to a different use, combating misinformation and antisemitism online.
It was these activities that ultimately led me to apply for a position at The Jerusalem Post, where I really got to improve my skills and push the boundaries of my writing.
Today, I am the head of content at Fullpath, an AI-driven start-up in the automotive sphere. A lot of the skills I learned at the start of my career still drive me today – from the sense of urgency that came from the war rooms, to the deep need for accuracy and grammatical perfection that came from working the news desk.
How was your time working at the ‘Post’?
I credit working at the Post with a lot of my success. I learned a lot working on the news desk. I learned about the importance of urgency and accuracy in journalism, honed my skills as an editor, and developed a love for quick, snappy writing that gets the job done.
I got to spread my wings at the news desk and got to write my own exploratory articles during downtime, which taught me a lot about research, composition, storytelling, and interviewing. I loved working in journalism and was always looking for new ways to contribute.
It was during my time at the Post that the stabbing intifada started. I will never forget the fear and horror we experienced on the desk as the details and images would come rolling in through our WhatsApp channels.
There is one story I will never forget. I was on the desk when the Dafna Meir story hit the wire. Dafna was stabbed to death in front of her teenage daughter inside their home in Otniel. The images and the details were horrific, and it was our job to share those details with the world.
Those images are seared into my mind, and the weight of that story still sits with me today – Did I get it right? Did I protect the family? Did I share just enough so people could understand how horrifying that incident truly was? It was after that terrorist attack that I realized I could no longer work on the desk, as I am not cut out for sharing those horrors.
I carry that gravity of journalism with me today. It guides my work, as I demand accuracy and perfection – or as close as I can get to perfection – from every piece I put out.
What are some of the most memorable moments from your career?
When I worked at the National Library of Israel, a lot of my work focused on the history of the Jewish people before the Holocaust. It was a heavy subject, but it offered me the opportunity to share stories that otherwise would have stayed within the walls of the archive.
One of my greatest achievements was the community I started on Facebook, a group called Life before the Holocaust. While it started as a place for me to share library resources, it quickly became a place where people started sharing their own family and community histories. When I left the library, the group was at around 10,000 members. Today, it stands at 36,000, showing the true power of community and storytelling.
I also had the honor of participating in an incredible project where we found historical cookbooks in the archives and had Israeli chefs recreate them for Rosh Hashanah. I spent weeks poring over cookbooks pulled from the archives, exploring European and Middle Eastern cooking traditions that very much still influence how we cook today.
I loved having the opportunity to learn more about my own cooking history, delving into cookbooks from communities as early as the 1930s, reading and translating recipes from Poland, Russia, Romania, Germany, Alsace, Morocco, Tunisia, and the US.
As part of the project, I got to work with Adeena Sussman, an incredible chef and cookbook writer who really embraces the beauty of local Israeli ingredients. She created a drink using teas and pomegranates inspired by a cookbook called How to Cook in Palestine, developed by WIZO to help newcomers to Israel navigate local ingredients and cooking techniques.
Renowned Israeli chef Meir Adoni recreated three recipes from a cookbook called Der Yedishe Kuch, offering a modern interpretation of herring, meat kugel, and kreplach.
The treasures that exist within the walls of the National Library are absolutely priceless. My time at the library gave me the honor of sharing the stories of European communities that no longer exist, many of them wiped off the face of the map through the same hatred we are experiencing today.
Thankfully, the little bits and pieces that survived the test of time – the memory of their rich Jewish community culture and history – get to live on in the archives at the library. My time there left a major impact on my own Jewish pride and experience.
How have your views and outlooks on life and Israel changed over time?
I think my views have certainly shifted over time. I think that happens naturally as we move through life and have our various experiences. While I moved to Israel with great excitement and passion, I will definitely say there was a touch of naivety in me. My love for Israel today is far more grounded and rational than it was 12 years ago, and that certainly means that my views – from politics to everyday living – have shifted, but in my opinion, for the better.
My love for Israel is based on a deep desire to see Israel succeed. It is based on a deeper love for my people than I ever knew was possible and a profound hope that we can learn to love one another in a way that can drive us forward as a nation, especially in the difficult times we are currently facing.
What advice do you have for others?
Follow your heart, learn about yourself, understand your strengths and what you have to offer to the world. The journey may not be easy, but it is worth it.